The phenomenon of life after death is interestingly one of the main driving forces behind the life we choose to live. Death is the unknown, so naturally, it causes a lot of fear. Therefore, many religions offer solace and comfort in giving an account of what death means, and how this relates to making our life meaningful. Buddhism is a religion that is widely appreciated for its principles of peace, tolerance and tranquility, and this religion too has its own ideas about the life we gain after we die.
The foundations of Buddhism are similar to the foundations of Hinduism. Both religions believe that reincarnation is the next step after death. Reincarnation is a re-birth in a different time and life, and the belief is that the being comes back again and again until it reaches a state of Nirvana. The entire being loses its personality, tendencies, preferences, abilities, needs and wants after death, and is re-created once again in a different time and a place. The being can be recreated in a heavenly state, a hellish state, as a ghost, as a human being or as an animal.
However, this religion does have its own ideas about what represents heaven and hell. If a being has been loving, kind and good, it comes back in a heavenly state. However, this state is temporary and can end just as life ends. The hellish state comes with how the being’s condition is painful, and is also temporary. Both heaven and hell are a state of mind, or an experience. The experience is primarily of anxiety, depression, distress and agony in a hellish state, and mainly of pleasure in a heavenly state. Human beings experience a mixture of both. Ghosts are beings that are discontented, dissatisfied and longing for something.
The main thing that will decide the next life is what we call “karma”. Karma isn’t as simple as “what goes around comes around”. The layers that make up this idea go much deeper, and have a massive reverberating effect on the decision of your life form after death. The deeds that we have done in the past are collected and stored in the energy frequencies of our being, or soul. If we have resorted to doing deeds that are harmful or cause pain, this deed adds to our energy frequency. If we have kept ourselves to goodness and righteousness, this again collects inside the energy we give out to the Universe.
At the time of our death, our body weakens but our frequency gets stronger. At the end of our death, we send out our frequency into the Universe. If there is a lot of negativity in us, the Universe’s negativity picks up the frequency. This is one of the causes as to why some people see frightening or disturbing images when they are about to die. The same holds good for good frequencies that we send out, and people here see images of their loved ones and people they have lost in the past. They even call out to these “visions” as they die. The energy is released once the body dies, and whatever frequency is dominant is established into the new vessel or body. Therefore, a person who has collected a lot of good deeds is reborn as a human being in a comfortable life, or can also enter a heavenly realm. A person who has predominantly bad karma collected is reborn as a human being with extreme difficulties in their life or as an animal, and can also go toward a hellish state when the negativity is too heavy (such as exercising extreme cruelty in their past life).
Each religion has its own philosophies about life and death, and can always help us to lead a meaningful life through making the world a better place. This message is present in every religion, and only aims to increase the goodness in the world. Living to help others and be a worthwhile being can make even the current life you are living seem heavenly.
